Dual Language Learners’ Motivation Profiles and Their Engagement in Classroom Discussion

• In Event: Teacher-Student and Peer Relationships as Learning Contexts

Abstract

Introduction. Early adolescence is a developmental period when students’ academic motivation tends to decrease, including in language-related activities (Eccles et al., 1993). Emerging research suggests that adolescent dual language learners (DLLs; children learning two languages) also experience decreases in motivation for language-related activities (Unrau & Schlackman, 2006). Given the importance of language skills for reading success in middle school (Mancilla-Martinez & Lesaux, 2017), it is important to understand adolescent DLLs’ motivation for engaging in language-related activities.

Yet, motivation is a multi-dimensional construct, despite the general reference to adolescents’ overall “decrease” in motivation (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). Prior research suggests that some motivation dimensions take on greater importance than others during adolescence (Yeager et al., 2017). Thus, research is needed to investigate how these developmentally-relevant dimensions of adolescent DLLs’ motivation work together to form motivation “profiles” and how these motivation profiles may predict DLLs’ engagement in language-related activities, like classroom discussion. Our study addressed this literature gap by 1) characterizing the motivation profiles of DLLs in relation to classroom discussion and 2) investigating the relation between DLLs’ motivation profiles and their frequency of engagement in classroom discussion.

Method. Participants were 104 sixth-graders (male=46; female=58; M age=12.16 years old; SD=0.474; 82.7% Latino) from a predominately low-income, Latino, Spanish-speaking community. Most students spoke Spanish and English equally at home (n=48), with equal numbers of students speaking mostly/only English (n=28), and mostly/only Spanish (n=28).

Students’ motivation to participate in classroom discussion was measured using a validated 20-item questionnaire, which assessed five motivation dimensions (language-efficacy, value, interest, extrinsic motivation, social motivation; Authors, 2020). Mean motivation dimension scores ranged from 1=low motivation to 4=high motivation. Frequency of engagement in discussion was measured using a 4-item self-report survey (e.g., “how often do you participate in classroom discussions?”). Mean engagement scores ranged from 1=low engagement to 7=high engagement. Students’ reading comprehension was measured using the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE; Williams, 2001) passage comprehension subtest (30 multiple-choice questions).

Results. Cluster analysis revealed two motivational profiles: high vs. low. An omnibus MANCOVA revealed that, while controlling for classroom effects and English reading comprehension, the two profiles were overall statistically different on motivation scores (p<0.001). As demonstrated in Figure 1, follow-up ANCOVAs indicated significant differences between profiles in scores on all five dimensions of motivation (p’s<0.01). Specifically, Profile 1 had greater scores on dimensions, including language-efficacy, value, interest, extrinsic motivation, and social motivation, than Profile 2.

An ANCOVA was used to investigate the relation between DLLs’ motivation profiles and their frequency of engagement in classroom discussion. As shown in Figure 2, results demonstrated that Profile 1 (the High Motivation Profile) reported higher frequency of engagement in classroom discussion than Profile 2 (the Low Motivation Profile), when controlling for classroom effects and English reading comprehension (p<0.01).
Our findings suggest that future research should investigate how individual developmentally-relevant motivation dimensions may relate to DLLs’ engagement in language activities during early adolescence. By increasing adolescent DLLs’ frequency of engagement in language-related activities, adolescent DLLs may have more positive English language outcomes.

Authors

• Holly Griskell, Concordia University Wisconsin
  Presenting Author

• Perla Blanca Gamez, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Raquel Diaz de Leon, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author